2019 Annual Report 2020 2 The Push acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands across Australia where our work takes place and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters, community and culture. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and future. Who We Are 3 At the forefront of emerging For over three decades, our organisation has engaged more than 700,000 young people. Our program alumni trends, The Push delivers a includes Courtney Barnett, Alex Lahey, Alice Ivy and Angie range of programs that are McMahon — who have each pathwayed into successful, responsive to Australia’s global careers. future music industry leaders and audiences. Now more than ever, we recognise the importance young people have in shaping our nation’s cultural identity. Welcome 4 Kate Duncan CEO, The Push Inc Moira McKenzie Chairperson, The Push Inc It is said that out of crisis comes great opportunity. The COVID-19 global pandemic has completely disrupted Responsive to the increased demand for contemporary the way we live, work and connect. The Push, however, youth music programming across the country – The has used this time to reflect on our purpose and embrace Push’s national expansion would not have been possible new ways of working as we enter a COVID Normal world. without the commitment, energy and enthusiasm of our current Board of Management and staff team. The past 12 months has seen The Push play an integral role in supporting young people to stay connected and As we reflect on the past 12 months, we would like to engaged within their communities. We have continued acknowledge the significant contributions of outgoing to deliver a range of contemporary music programs and Board of Management and staff members. Thank you for have ensured that young people’s voices and unique the many years of dedication you have each given to The experiences are being amplified through our sector Push. advocacy and across our broader community. And thank you to our partners, mentors and friends. Your Never before has The Push been so important in generous support has enabled us to continue the work developing our future music industry leaders and we do in developing young industry practitioners, artists audiences. and all-ages audiences. For the first time in 32 years, The Push expanded its program delivery nationally. We were able to connect with and support young people across every state and territory to develop skills specific to the contemporary music industry. Our History 5 1986 The Push has a The Push begins its life as a program funded by the Victorian Government, Youth unique history in Affairs Division of the Department of Labour the Victorian music community. 1990 Push Clubs, which would later become the model for FReeZA, are described by our founder as being “the backbone of The Push and its many functions” 1988 The Push is officially established as an independent not-for-profit organisation 1996 Rolling Stone magazine remarks, “Australian music is exciting again... what’s helped to generate the excitement? The steady growth of the all-ages and regional scene - thanks to government sponsored 1998 organisations such as The Push” The Push celebrates its 10th Anniversary with “the most successful Push Over to date” featuring Spiderbait, Grinspoon, The Superjesus, Regurgitator and more… 1992 5,000 young people attend the first ever Push Over event, featuring 11 independent Australian bands at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building 2002 The Push launches "Push Summits" – a regional touring program aimed at giving young people the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in staging all-ages events 2008 The Push launches its first music industry conference: Face The Music 2009 With support from the Victorian Government Office for Youth, The Push visits Black Saturday bushfire affected communities to stage intimate performances with The Living End 2017 To celebrate National Youth Week, the Governor of Victoria hosts the first ever all-ages live music event at Government House with The Push 2017 The Push stages Live At The Steps in Melbourne’s Treasury Gardens. Close to 10,000 young people attend the free live music event featuring Skegss, Tired Lion, Mallrat, Baker Boy and Nancie Schipper 2019 The Push relocates to its new home in Collingwood Yards arts precinct What happens next? Join us as we continue delivering frontline 2020 music programs that help keep young The Push delivers its first national program with Song Writing Sessions people connected and creative. Young people are our creative future. They need us and we need you. Our Impact 6 4.6 million+ people streamed a Push participant on Spotify 25,000+ young people attended our events in 2019/20 1,645 young people participated in our workshops 3,000 young people attended our All-Ages Tour which visited Benalla, Hepburn Springs, Geelong and Leongatha in regional Victoria 342 volunteers gained hands on experience at our events 200+ paid performance opportunities were provided to artists 131 industry professionals engaged in our programs and workshops We pushed nationally... For the first time in our 32-year history, The Push extended its programs interstate — with our Song Writing Sessions program engaging young people across Australia. Our Reach 7 39,024 unique web views 8,784 followers (+5.90%) 499,232 reach (+32.14%) 2,898 followers (+15.4%) 1,493 followers (+1.98%) 322 new followers Growing Digital The Push’s engagement online has never been higher. “I love The Push! Make it nation-wide!” Our channels continued to grow over the course of 2019- 20 and saw the addition of our organisational profile Sophie Payten, Gordi on LinkedIn. This new platform has quickly become our fastest growing channel, with an 11% increase in followers “I would love to see The Push go national or each week. have a national program offering, especially The Push’s programs and activities quickly adapted to in remote regions.” online delivery as COVID-19 began to impact our face-to- Candice Lorrae, The Merindas face service delivery. This has directly increased our online engagement with young people living in parts of regional and rural Australia. “This program is so wonderful - I really wish it wasn’t just a Victorian music industry Although we continue to reach a generally even gender initiative.” split online, we have seen a slight increase in the number Sweetie Zamora, Remote Control Records of users who identify as gender non-binary, gender non- conforming or other, who now represent 3% of our digital audience. Our Instagram continues to reach a majority of young people, with almost half of all followers aged between 13 – 24 years old. Our New Home 8 Having this dedicated youth music facility will support In April 2020 The the organisation’s goals to: Push relocated to Add new revenue streams by offering industry our new home at dedicated co-working spaces. Collingwood Yards Support hundreds of young music makers to create Situated over two floors this new facility will be home new works and collaborate with song writing mentors to a series of national all-ages programs and events within our new Electronic Music Incubator facility designed for young people. Attract thousands of young people from across Australia, through a wide range of programming and event activations And develop new partnerships and collaborations with other organisations located within Collingwood Yards Impact of COVID-19 9 The impact of COVID-19 on In response to the pandemic, The Push sought to better understand how young people were feeling. In a survey, young people in our community The Push discovered that: The effects of the pandemic have been felt throughout the organisation and within our broader music 100% of people who responded felt less socially community like nothing ever before. Our sector was connected since before COVID-19 impacted first and will be one of the last to return to any state of COVID Normal. 72% of people who responded wanted opportunities to learn and practice new skills COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted young people. 2020 has seen them face bushfires, a global pandemic 46% of people wanted opportunities to network and a worsening economic crisis. With university fees for with peers both arts and humanities degrees on the rise (ABC News, 2020), young people are now faced with complete Throughout this year, young people’s unique needs uncertainty as to how they can begin a career within the and experiences have been missing from government creative industries. and sector-wide consultation processes and response packages. The Push addressed this with a number of Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, public advocacy campaigns. By surveying our community unemployment for young people has risen nationally to we were able to celebrate and champion the important 16.4%. role young people will play in defining our future. Those aged 15 to 24 years old, are almost twice as likely to “When COVID-19 closed down our radio be unemployed as the general population (Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, 2020). Australia’s Arts and Recreation broadcast studios and live gigs stopped, it industry is a major employer of young people —almost really got me wondering what the future for 30% of the sector is aged 15 to 24 years — with a large young musicians will look like. How will their proportion working part-time and casually (Australian creative processes be formed in the absence Bureau of Statistics, 2019). of live performance?” Selin Kaya, 2020 Music Industry Mentoring Participant Our All-Ages Programs 10 All-Ages Grants FReeZA Support Service In an effort to address the barriers associated with During 2019 and 2020, The Push continued to deliver staging all-ages events The Push launched a new All- the FReeZA Support Service, on behalf of the Victorian Ages Grants program.